Brimstone, episode two: Poem
Jun. 5th, 2026 12:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annaverePeter Gabriel made the credits theme! That alone should have kept this show from cancellation. Philistines.
A lot changes from the pilot to this episode (which was fifth in airing order), but also, this episode feels like it was running long and lost most of the establishing shots and some fairly important introductions on the cutting room floor. I was confused several times, and this makes me wonder if that's why the episode got bumped.
So Ezekiel Stone is now in L.A. trying to track down his wife, which means we lose all the set up from the pilot and watch him start from scratch, with a new setting and locals. In this particular episode (again written by the two showrunners), a surprising amount of effort is put into making the Chinatown setting feel lived in and varied. The focus is on the community center, and the difficulties of the immigrant experience, particularly with regard to learning English and distrust of local law enforcement. Interestingly, despite a bunch of cop characters getting shown, the viewpoint remains steadily with the Chinese characters, and their hostility never gets refuted by a big speech from a good cop. It just is, an acknowledged fact of their experience, and it's proved out when the cops only "catch" Po because he walks into their station with a butcher knife and a ready confession.
This setting also allows some nice character work for Stone, who gets to find comfort in the idea that some mythologies have people like himself in them. I like the details shown through his mannerisms, like apologizing to God when he rips a page from a phone book. Also, the way he grins at the angry landlady ordering him to come back with a warrant (loved her, by the way). It seems like he is genuinely charmed by her legal obstruction of his vigilante work - and I think that makes sense, because it's been fifteen years since he did anything job-related, and to suddenly be getting smack-talked about warrants is refreshing for him. Yes, it's a serious topic to power what is basically a comedy moment, but I don't feel like the joke is on the landlady here.
Stone fits the mold of a 90s anti-hero, who is stoic and snarky, but he's got an empathic streak, and our first real glimpse of it is when he says "I do understand" to Po during their final showdown. And the most interesting part for me is in Zeke's final conversation with Nina, where she tells the story of the band of warriors tasked with defeating the escaped demons. She makes it very clear that the story is of a group, not of a single champion, which makes me wonder if this wasn't foreshadowing a larger group coming together around Stone. After all, first Kane and now Nina know about his quest. The show didn't last long enough to see if this would pan out, alas.
Some lore bits to puzzle over: Stone wakes up each day with his pockets reset to what he had on him when he died. So he's limited to $36.27 for spending money. How did he spend twice that as cash up front for his motel room last episode? No idea. Probably they hadn't come up with it yet, because they hadn't realized Ezekiel 36:27 was a cool Biblical quote to summarize the situation (whereas $62.50 doesn't go anywhere). "And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them."
Does the money disappear with each reset, or only if he doesn't spend it? Can he save it up daily for a bigger purchase? Is he accidentally ripping off everyone he pays when it vanishes the next day? I'm thinking about this too much.
Meanwhile, Po is a Tang Dynasty poet, and now that he's escaped Hell, he's trying to learn English and make a new start in America. He's also trying to sacrifice four virgins in tribute to the Tang princess whom he murdered for rejecting his advances, but I'm hung up on the theme of language learning in this episode, because Po hasn't learned English in the extremely lengthy interim, but he has learned how to sign his name in the Devil's native tongue (which the Devil helpfully tattooed all over Ezekiel Stone with the names of the 113). Obviously, the main point of Hell is that it's hot and people suffer, so it's unlikely they get taught anything much, but since we don't have any idea how the prison break worked, it's interesting to picture Po prioritizing learning the Devil's language on the sly as a factor in the getaway.
It's a shame the episode feels so choppy in places, because I liked Nina a lot, as well as the setting and themes. It had some fun moments, and casting a martial arts expert (Roger Yuan) as the villain was a good choice. Onwards to the next one.
A lot changes from the pilot to this episode (which was fifth in airing order), but also, this episode feels like it was running long and lost most of the establishing shots and some fairly important introductions on the cutting room floor. I was confused several times, and this makes me wonder if that's why the episode got bumped.
So Ezekiel Stone is now in L.A. trying to track down his wife, which means we lose all the set up from the pilot and watch him start from scratch, with a new setting and locals. In this particular episode (again written by the two showrunners), a surprising amount of effort is put into making the Chinatown setting feel lived in and varied. The focus is on the community center, and the difficulties of the immigrant experience, particularly with regard to learning English and distrust of local law enforcement. Interestingly, despite a bunch of cop characters getting shown, the viewpoint remains steadily with the Chinese characters, and their hostility never gets refuted by a big speech from a good cop. It just is, an acknowledged fact of their experience, and it's proved out when the cops only "catch" Po because he walks into their station with a butcher knife and a ready confession.
This setting also allows some nice character work for Stone, who gets to find comfort in the idea that some mythologies have people like himself in them. I like the details shown through his mannerisms, like apologizing to God when he rips a page from a phone book. Also, the way he grins at the angry landlady ordering him to come back with a warrant (loved her, by the way). It seems like he is genuinely charmed by her legal obstruction of his vigilante work - and I think that makes sense, because it's been fifteen years since he did anything job-related, and to suddenly be getting smack-talked about warrants is refreshing for him. Yes, it's a serious topic to power what is basically a comedy moment, but I don't feel like the joke is on the landlady here.
Stone fits the mold of a 90s anti-hero, who is stoic and snarky, but he's got an empathic streak, and our first real glimpse of it is when he says "I do understand" to Po during their final showdown. And the most interesting part for me is in Zeke's final conversation with Nina, where she tells the story of the band of warriors tasked with defeating the escaped demons. She makes it very clear that the story is of a group, not of a single champion, which makes me wonder if this wasn't foreshadowing a larger group coming together around Stone. After all, first Kane and now Nina know about his quest. The show didn't last long enough to see if this would pan out, alas.
Some lore bits to puzzle over: Stone wakes up each day with his pockets reset to what he had on him when he died. So he's limited to $36.27 for spending money. How did he spend twice that as cash up front for his motel room last episode? No idea. Probably they hadn't come up with it yet, because they hadn't realized Ezekiel 36:27 was a cool Biblical quote to summarize the situation (whereas $62.50 doesn't go anywhere). "And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them."
Does the money disappear with each reset, or only if he doesn't spend it? Can he save it up daily for a bigger purchase? Is he accidentally ripping off everyone he pays when it vanishes the next day? I'm thinking about this too much.
Meanwhile, Po is a Tang Dynasty poet, and now that he's escaped Hell, he's trying to learn English and make a new start in America. He's also trying to sacrifice four virgins in tribute to the Tang princess whom he murdered for rejecting his advances, but I'm hung up on the theme of language learning in this episode, because Po hasn't learned English in the extremely lengthy interim, but he has learned how to sign his name in the Devil's native tongue (which the Devil helpfully tattooed all over Ezekiel Stone with the names of the 113). Obviously, the main point of Hell is that it's hot and people suffer, so it's unlikely they get taught anything much, but since we don't have any idea how the prison break worked, it's interesting to picture Po prioritizing learning the Devil's language on the sly as a factor in the getaway.
It's a shame the episode feels so choppy in places, because I liked Nina a lot, as well as the setting and themes. It had some fun moments, and casting a martial arts expert (Roger Yuan) as the villain was a good choice. Onwards to the next one.
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Date: 2026-06-05 08:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-06-05 08:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-06-05 09:01 pm (UTC)And thank you for the Giles icon. 💔 *Sigh*
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Date: 2026-06-05 09:28 pm (UTC)